Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Friday

June 3, 2022 - Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release

Friday, June 3, 2022 l Game # 48

Day Air Ballpark l Dayton, Ohio l 7:05 p.m.

Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE

South Bend Cubs (28-20) at Dayton Dragons (32-15)

RH Kohl Franklin (0-3, 10.80) vs. RH Connor Phillips (2-2, 2.53)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the South Bend Cubs (affiliate of the Chicago Cubs) at Day Air Ballpark in the heart of the Water Street District. This is the fourth game of a six-game series.

Current Series vs. South Bend (May 31-June 5): Dayton 2, South Bend 1.

Best Ever: The Dragons record of 32-15 is the best in franchise history through the first 47 games of a season. The previous best over the first 47 games was 31-16 in 2007.

Dragons in the Standings: Dayton is in first place in the MWL East Division, five and one-half games ahead of Great Lakes with 19 games to play in the first half season. The final day of the first half is June 23.

Last Games: Thursday: Suspended Game: South Bend 8, Dayton 4 (10 innings). Regularly-Scheduled Game: Dayton 7, South Bend 2. In the suspended game, the Dragons battled back from a 3-0 deficit and tied the game in the ninth on a home run by Garrett Wolforth before South Bend scored five in the 10th. In the second game, Dayton came back from a 2-0 deficit with seven runs with two outs in the eighth, keyed by a three-run double by Nick Quintana for the lead and a three-run homer by Elly De La Cruz.

Team Notes

The Dragons 32-15 (.681) record is tied for third best of all Minor League Baseball.

The Dragons have matched a 2022 high-point of 17 games over .500. Over the last 10 years, they had reached 17 games above .500 for one day (30-13 on May 21, 2017). Before 2017, the last time they were 17 games over .500 came at the end of the 2011 season, when they were 26 games over at 83-57.

Dayton leads the MWL in home runs with 55, three more than Quad Cities.

The Dragons team ERA in their 32 wins is 2.12 (272 IP, 64 ER). Their team ERA in their 15 losses is 8.23 (117 IP, 107 ER).

Dragons starting pitchers have a full-season ERA of 3.36 to rank second in the MWL.

Player Notes

Connor Phillips leads the MWL in strikeouts with 66. Since April 28, Phillips has made five starts, posting a 1.26 ERA (28.2 IP, 15 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 8 BB, 45 SO).

Elly De La Cruz has a 10-game hitting streak, batting .349 with three home runs and nine extra base hits. De La Cruz is now tied for second in the MWL in extra base hits (23), third in slugging percentage (.564), tied for fifth in home runs (9), and tied for fourth in RBI (31).

Rece Hinds led the MWL in batting average (.388), slugging percentage (.672), on-base percentage (.474), and OPS (1.146) in the month of May.

Alex McGarry leads the Midwest League in slugging percentage (.664) and OPS (1.000). He is tied for second in extra base hits (23) while ranking tied for second in home runs (11), third in runs batted in (35), and seventh in batting average (.298)...McGarry has 23 extra base hits in 35 games, an average of .66 extra base hits per game. Over the Dragons history, the top two ranked hitters in extra base hits per game (minimum 50 games) are Nick Senzel (.57 per game in 2016) and Jay Bruce (.54 per game in 2006)...McGarry connected on his 10th homer on May 12. Since daily records became available in 2005, the earliest that a previous Dayton hitter had reached 10 home runs was May 21 (2008, Brandon Waring). Next earliest is May 28 (Jay Bruce in 2006; Juan Francisco in 2007).

Donovan Benoit over his last 11 relief appearances: 1-0, 6 saves, 0.57 ERA (15.2 IP, 1 R).

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (Game times are Dayton time) (All games on WONE 980 AM and www.daytondragons.com)

Saturday, June 4 (7:09 p.m.): South Bend RH Daniel Palencia (0-0, 3.96) at Dayton RH Christian Roa (0-1, 5.73) TV: Dayton's CW (26)

Sunday, June 5 (1:09 p.m.): South Bend LH Jordan Wicks (0-2, 3.65) at Dayton RH James Proctor (3-2, 4.83) TV: Dayton's CW (26)

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

Midwest League Stories from June 3, 2022

Early Outburst Leads Wisconsin Past Chiefs - Peoria Chiefs
On First LAFCU Fireworks Night, Kernels Escape Locos, 8-5 - Lansing Lugnuts
Captains' Pitching Masterful in 2-1 Triumph - Lake County Captains
Triple Play, Four-Run Ninth Not Enough for Great Lakes - Great Lakes Loons
Despite Historic Night for Pinango, Cubs Fall 5-2 - South Bend Cubs
Gray and Acosta Homer in Wisconsin Win Over Peoria - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
Multi-Hit Games Fuel Friday Kernels' Win - Cedar Rapids Kernels
TinCaps Homer Way to Win - Fort Wayne TinCaps
Willems' Home Run Supports Strong Pitching as Dragons Win Again, 5-2 - Dayton Dragons
TinCaps Transactions & Game Information: June 3 at Great Lakes - Fort Wayne TinCaps
Peters Wins Midwest League Player of the Month Award for May - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Friday - Dayton Dragons
Dragons Joe Boyle Wins Midwest League Pitcher of the Month for May - Dayton Dragons
South Bend Cubs Gameday and Event Parking Is Now Cashless - South Bend Cubs
'Caps Blast Six Homers in Win - West Michigan Whitecaps
Chiefs Blank Wisconsin for Second Night in a Row in 4-0 Triumph - Peoria Chiefs
Espinoza Shines in South Bend Loss, Cubs Split the Day - South Bend Cubs
Combined 24 Runs Scored, with Whitecaps Outlasting Captains - Lake County Captains
Sky Carp Stun Bandits with Eight-Run Ninth in Slugfest - Quad Cities River Bandits
Lugs Ride Strong Relief, Piranha Ball Past Kernels, 7-3 - Lansing Lugnuts

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Friday

Midwest League Stories from June 3, 2022

Other Recent Dayton Dragons Stories